The United States is concerned about Mr. Peter Manning, the undersecretary of state for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs. Mr. Peter Manning’s kidnapping happened in Jamaica while he was attending a diplomatic mission to promote the president’s development initiative in the Caribbean. The government is focused and dedicated to discouraging attacks on American officials and citizens by terrorist groups, including the Toussaint L’Ouverture Brigade, the group responsible for this particular kidnapping.
According to a classified cable from Kingston, Manning was kidnapped at 1000 hours between Montego Bay and the Appleton Distillery while travelling on the Governor’s Coach Tour train with five U.S. businessmen. The location where Manning, thirty Canadian tourists and the five U.S businessmen are being is in Ipswich Caves. A Memorandum from the director of the Central Intelligence Agency provide a more detailed account of the location where hostages are being held, the number of kidnappers (fifteen Haitians), kidnappers’ armory and Jamaican government approval for U.S to take initiative.
In the “Communiqué from the Toussaint L’ouverture Brigade,” kidnappers have made several demands against the U.S., Haitian and Cuban governments. It is necessary to note that the kidnappers have given a 24-hour timeframe in which the involved parties should meet their demands. The National Security Council has also given a briefing on the situation with the concerns and potential contributions by the Canadian government, Haitian official, and Fidel Castro and current Cuban leaders.
Based on the underlying circumstances of the crisis, it is important that an immediate hostage rescue operation takes place to avoid further complexity and incidents of collateral damage likely to result from a delayed response. A special session of the concerned departments, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Office to Combat Terrorism and other agencies, will be held to consider the most effective approach of addressing this crisis (Kegley and Blanton 228).
In this hostage crisis, the counterterrorism units, including The Delta Group at Fort Bragg, competent in hostage rescue missions should be positioned for possible approach. The members of these units must have taken part in counterterrorist exchange programs and should have combat experience against conflict by terrorist groups.
These units must have the capacity to handle a crisis of such magnitude, despite the likely shortage of equipment or personnel. It is fundamental that the involved departments provide the directive to form a joint unit that constitutes officers from the Marines and the Army commandos from the U.S. counterterrorism agencies. The participation of some agencies should be limited to logistical support such as providing essential details on assault equipment and explosives (The Ackerman Group, LLC 14).
The U.S. and Jamaican government should work jointly and send representatives from their respective counterterrorist units. The advisors from these units should provide tactical and technical assistance with careful consideration of the underlying circumstances of the crisis. The ingenious approach to the area where the hostages are being held is the most enthralling aspect of the entire operation. It is fundamental to take careful consideration of when to deploy the rescue force to resolve the current crisis (U.S. State Department 4).
In this case, it is apparent that waiting to carry out a rescue operation later will allow for intelligence-related and critical information to surface, preparation and planning of the operation to advance, and the agency can engage in negotiations in an effort to realize a peaceful resolution. A peaceful resolution is always the target of the involved authorities because it is less costly in terms of financial liabilities, and it eliminates the risk of engaging the culprits in an operation involving the loss of lives.
Further, performing the operation later will facilitate the natural degradation of the readiness of the kidnappers. The key in this operation is planning for the development of the most efficient window of opportunity, and carrying out the rescue operation, in a way, that maximizes the element of surprise, the operator’s readiness state, and the intelligence gathered (Hunsicker 211).
The success of the rescue operation depends on the element of surprise and terrorists should not expect to be overtaken by the rescue forces. Throughout preparation and planning, effective approach should be developed that ensure maximum safety of hostages and rescue units. The approach should provide a superb method of infiltrating the target site undetected and a secured area of performing reconnaissance, surveillance, as well as last minute planning.
It is also important that the rescue forces have easy access to tactical operations centers with the required equipment, including planning tables and charts, communications equipment, and unique signaling systems. The operation should be carried out in a well-coordinated approach to ensure effective hostage rescue (Pérez 70).
The rescue force should rehearse the operation several times in which they conduct possible attempts at the mock up site, while ensuring that they are totally isolated from the public. All members of the rescue team should know exactly the rescue process steps at each different situation. The planned contingencies should incorporate the critical factor of using pre-planned support teams that are not attached to the rescue force (Nikbay and Hancerli 10).
The operation should have specific teams that will work together with the assault force and offer support during the operation, including reserve teams, medics, and firefighters. These teams will work behind the rescue unit in providing critical support, particularly on those requirements that may not be planned for during the organization of the assault force. Further, the mission execution plan should include rehearsing for the contingency to involve special teams. It is fundamental that specific code names be allocated to each special situation (Ronningen 24).
The most essential aspect of the rescue operation is to understand the unique elements of this crisis and other surrounding issues, which will contribute to a successful rescue operation. The friendly territory, terrorists’ skill level, and other countries’ willingness to help, such as Cuba offering asylum to the terrorists, are some of the factors that will contribute to the success of the operation. The agencies involved in the rescue operation should take into consideration these factors.
They should also consider procedures, techniques, and tactics used in other operations as a possible alternative for this crisis. Withdrawal from negotiation may pose risks for the hostages, especially if the kidnappers perceive there is no progress during the protracted negotiation process. As a result, tensions may arise, which is likely to jeopardize the security of the hostages, as well as the entire operation. An example of an effective rescue operation is the Operation CHAVIN DE HUANTAR. In the case, some of the fundamental elements of a rescue operation are highlighted that can help in making informed decisions and guaranteeing success in this particular crisis (Pérez 69).
Works Cited
Hunsicker, Axel. Understanding International Counter Terrorism, Florida : Universal-Publishers, 2006. Print.
Kegley, Charles W., and Shannon L. Blanton. World Politics: Trend and Transformation, 2013-2014 Update Edition, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
Nikbay, Ozgur, and Suleyman Hancerli. Understanding and Responding to the Terrorism Phenomenon: A Multi-Dimensional Perspective, Oxford: IOS Press, 2007. Print.
Pérez, Carlos M. Anatomy of Hostage Rescue: What Makes Hostage Rescue Operations Successful? 2004. Web.
Ronningen, Mitchell. Social and Humanitarian Position Paper. 2006.
The Ackerman Group, LLC: Managing Terrorism Risks: A Practical Guide. 2008.
U.S. State Department: Foreign Relations, 1969-1976, Volume E-1, Documents on Global Issues, 1969-1972. 2011. Web.